The Arcata City Council will take one more step toward submitting an application to expand city limits during its regular meeting tonight.

The council is expected to introduce a resolution that would approve an application to the Local Agency Formation Commission for the annexation of Shirley Boulevard and Park Avenue neighborhoods. A second resolution would amend the city's general plan to include the proposed areas and adopt a negative declaration of environmental impacts for the project.

Adoption of the resolutions is slated for the next council meeting on April 3, staff reports state.

"After a series of public meetings, we reached a conclusion," Community Development Director Larry Oetker said. "In essence, we are asking the council to approve the environmental document and authorize the application to formally annex the areas into the city."

If adopted, the annexation would allow the city to provide sewer service to the proposed neighborhoods, Oetker said.

The council will also join talks on establishing a long-term solution for curbside recyclables.

Arcata currently transfers recyclables to Solid Waste of Willits though the Humboldt Waste Management Authority under a five-year contract that is expected to end in 2016, HWMA Executive Director Jill Duffy said. The HWMA is a joint powers authority with representatives from the county and the cities of Eureka, Arcata, Ferndale, Rio Dell and Blue Lake.

Duffy said the partnership with Solid Waste of Willits is a short-term solution, until participating member agencies can collectively decide on an alternative method.

"The foreclosure of the Arcata Community Recycling Center resulted in interested prospects triggering the conversation early," Duffy said. "This is the first of many conversations around recycling; we are looking for an indication of what cities in the county intend to do with their recyclable material."

Eel River Resource Recovery, one of the prospective agencies based in Fortuna, will present the council with information on its recent purchase of the ACRC recycling facility in Samoa, Assistant Manager Chuck Schager said.

"We are hoping to bring their recyclables here; we don't want them sent to Willits," Schager said. "We believe we can work around the challenges that caused the ACRC to close in the first place; it's a challenge we are willing to take."

The future of the Arcata Community Recycling Center's multi-million-dollar Samoa processing plant had been unclear after the Humboldt Waste Management Authority passed on purchasing the facility in April 2012.